Way of the Dragon
by OneManArmy25443
Summary: Seven years have passed since the death of Aizen and everything has been relatively quiet. The two youngest captains of the Gotei 13 are facing an increasing possibility of becoming related. And a new powerful Reiatsu has been detected. Who could it be?


I started writing this story after a couple of brainstorming sessions involving designing a Zanpakuto and just how Karin would become a Shinigami. The Zanpakuto idea turned out really well, Karin's storyline, not so much, still working on it.

Here's the thing: The more I worked on the Zanpakuto design, the more I came to be more and more attached to a certain name. That name, I won't reveal yet, but hopefully the title of the story and the way this chapter turns out will give you a few clues. This does result in a bit of a crossover, from a character template basis.

I'm gonna be using a bit of a mixture of manga and anime terminology. Certain words from the manga, like Shinigami and Reiatsu just sound better than their anime counterparts. However, words like Shunpo will only be used for the skill, because the act of writing "shunpoing" or "shunpoed" makes me cringe. Hold on while I calm myself...

Ok, back. I'm gonna do one disclaimer up here, and another at the bottom, just not to completely ruined the surprise of the crossover until the end of this chapter. Both will appear at the top of the remaining chapters.

So, obviously I do not own Bleach, all concepts are the intellectual property of Tite Kubo.

And, on with the show...

%%%%

**Chapter 1**

"Ma'am, that Reiatsu has appeared again!" There was a hustle in the department of Research and Development that hadn't been quite there since the defeat of Aizen. Lieutenant Nemu Kurotsuchi was currently overseeing the pit of scientists who were monitoring the world of the living.

"Where is it this time?" Over the past few weeks, an enormous and unidentifiable reiatsu that had been appearing in different parts of Japan.

"It's on the outskirts of Karakura Town, Lieutenant!"

"Then we have a chance to catch him. Alert the captains of squad 10 and 13, they should still be in that area."

%%%%%

"What is it, Toshiro?" Ichigo was obviously angry that the diminutive genius hadn't left his soul pager at the clinic. But, seeing as how they, as well as Rukia, were away from the Soul Society for the week, they were expected to keep in contact.

"That was squad 12, they've detected that Reiatsu again, from within the limits of Karakura Town." Toshiro stole a glance over at Karin, and frowned. she had been planning this trip to the beach since Ichigo had said that he and Rukia were coming to visit for a week and that Toshiro would be coming with them.

"We are to go and attempt to ascertain its source and, if necessary, exterminate it." Ichigo's trademark scowl deepened, which quickly earned him a smack in the back of the head from Rukia.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Idiot, I told you that all that scowling is gonna give you wrinkles, and I can't have you looking like an old man any quicker." Rukia smiled and then slipped her fingers through his. She really looked quite fetching in her swimsuit, her pale skin contrasting wonderfully with the black bikini.

"Go ahead, Karin and I will stay here and clean up. You take Captain Hitsugaya and go check it out... That is, if you can pry him away from your sister," Ichigo turned to see the (physically) teenage couple pulling apart from a kiss, obviously embarrassed. He had nothing against Toshiro dating his sister, but it was still fun for both him and Rukia to tease them.

"Alright, well since you two have come up for air, let's get going loverboy. Rukia, Karin, we'll meet you back at Urahara's shop tonight." Toshiro winced at being called that, but quickly turned it into a scowl. He still hadn't entirely dropped his want for people to address him as 'Captain Hitsugaya,' but Karin had been breaking him of that habit as of late.

"Fine, lets make this quick." Both took this time to ingest a Gikongan, separating their souls from their bodies in an instant. The most notable change besides Ichigo's sleeveless captain's Haori, was Zangetsu. No longer strapped from his back, or even in its shikai state, a short katana, not quite wakizashi length, with a completely black hilt and simple black guard shaped in a crescent moon with it's concave edge pointed out hung down from his sash connected by the red beads he used to keep strung around his chest.

Rukia moved over to Ichigo and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and smiled.

"Hurry back." Ichigo returned his lover's smile and nodded once.

"Right." And with that, both captains flash stepped away.

"Great, the whole day, ruined by the Soul Society," Karin pouted and slumped back on to her towel. Rukia frowned and came over to comfort Karin, she had just sent the bodies of Ichigo and Toshiro to the car with the rest of their belongings. She was glad that Karin was now old enough to drive, as she didn't know the first thing about driving.

"Don't look at it that way, Karin. You've had all week with Toshiro, and I can attest by just watching you together, you loved it. So today didn't work out, but there's still tonight and tomorrow before we go back to spend time with him." Karin sighed and smiled at Rukia.

"I know that. It's just... I don't get to spend a lot of time with him as it is. I just can't wait to graduate so that I can go to the academy and become a real Shinigami like you guys." Rukia frowned at that, her father had only given her that ultimatum in hopes that she would find something worth staying in the world of the living for. Now, with only a few months left in her senior year, she was just as determined as ever.

"Come on, Karin, we don't want our men to get back before us now, do we?"

%%%%%

Ichigo and Toshiro had just arrived in the middle of the forest on the northern border of Karakura Town. They could both clearly sense the Reiatsu now, being so close to it. It was subtly enormous, but most definitely not a hollow. Having slowed down their movement as they closed in on the source of the signature, they remained silent as they approached a clearing.

They were greatly surprised that they indeed did find a hollow in the clearing, several of them in fact. However, their appearance immediately lent them all to being extremely weak, and further that their own Reiatsu was completely consumed by the unknown one. Another surprise awaited the two captains as they found out why so many hollows were gathered in one place.

A young boy. And he was fighting them. Fighting, and winning.

He jumped up, higher than any normal human possibly could and delivered a spinning kick to one of the nearer hollows, breaking its mask entirely. Falling back down to earth, the youth landed on one foot and then sprang towards another hollow, nearly disappearing for a moment as he did.

"Shunpo?" Ichigo couldn't help but remark out loud, standing there agape. Toshiro had originally thought the same, but he now knew better.

"No, there is nothing aiding him in his movements besides his own force of will and muscle. They're amazingly fast, but even the most basic of flash step is faster." Ichigo nodded with a frown on his face, he had realized the mistake of his assumption shortly after speaking, having contributed a set of low expectations, not lack of perception, to what made him think this mysterious boy had vanished from sight.

In that short exchange, the child had dispatched five more hollows, and the rest of them were turning tail and fleeing. Even their instinct driven minds knew that this fight was hopeless. The boy landed with his back to Ichigo and Toshiro and they finally could discern the stature of this boy. He was short, but had a visibly well muscled body. His hair was jet black and stuck out at odd angles, given it a wild appearance. However, the most curious aspect of his appearance, was the long, elegant sword strapped to his back. Both Ichigo and Toshiro exchanged an almost dumbfounded look and Ichigo dared to speak.

"A Zanpakuto..?" The child's ear perked up as he whirled around.

"Hey! Who's there? I know you're out there, monster! Why don't you come out and fight and not sneak around like a coward!" Ichigo shrugged at Toshiro and they both walked out into the clearing. The boy jumped back and laid his hand onto his sword, ready to draw it. Toshiro was the first to speak

"Easy! Easy! We're not Hollows!" A confused look clouded the boy's determined visage momentarily.

"A Hollow? What's that? Is that some sort of monster trick? I won't fall for it!" Ichigo slapped his hand against his forehead and decided to try his hand.

"Hollow is just another name for those monsters you just fought. We're people, like you, see?" Ichigo saw the boy take his hand away from his sword and saw that the grip was wrapped in bright red leather and, surprisingly, had an ornate pommel in the shape of an dragon's head.

"Well, if you're not monsters, then what are you doing out here for? Are you guys hermits?" Toshiro had had about enough of this kid's questions and was beginning to get aggravated.

"No, if you would just let us talk, we'd tell you! We're here for you!" With that the boy cried out and jumped back again, away from the two captains, this time drawing his sword. It was longer than the average Katana, not quite at Nodachi length and remarkably well kept. It looked like it was polished every day. The angry look on the boy's face conveyed to Ichigo that he had misunderstood once again.

"So you're Bandits! Well, you're not getting my sword! My gandpa gave it to me!" Ichigo had seen quite enough. He shot a glance at Toshiro to make sure he'd let him handle this. Receiving the nod of approval from the white haired prodigy, Ichigo stepped in front of Toshiro and stared straight faced at the young boy.

"Listen kid, we're no bandits. We're here because your fighting monsters is giving off so much power that it alerted our superiors. Now, you can fight me if you want, but we just wanna talk and maybe help you control some of that power so you don't have to be surprised by more people like us." Ichigo saw the child's face screw up in thought for a moment, then sheathed his sword. A big, silly grin spread over his face as he walked up to Ichigo with his hand outstretched.

"Okay then, lets talk. What's your name, Mr. funny clothes?" After Ichigo had shaken the boys hand, the boy collapse to the ground, sitting cross legged. He was looking expectantly up at Ichigo.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and my serious friend over there is Toshiro Hitsugaya. What's your name kid?" The boy looked from Ichigo's face to Toshiro's, then moved his eyes over both of their swords. Finally striking him that he had been asked a question, the boy's face broke into a full blown smile.

"My name is Goku! Pleased to meet you!"

%%%%%

As promised before, I do not own anything related to the Dragon Ball franchise, it is the intellectual property of Akira Toriyama.

This is only a basic shell of Goku, with what will amount to his naïve, truthful nature and personality, and his heavy martial arts background. I can attest that there will be no Saiyans, and no Namekians, and nothing anything close to resembling to the Kamehameha. It was more that I wanted this character to be like Goku, but I'd prolly just get called out for making a clone of him and decided to just go ahead and make him Goku. So there.

So I do have a few questions for anyone who does chance to read this, as I am currently stumped.

What should Zangetsu's release command be? I can't really come up with a good one.

How should Karin ultimately end up attending the Shinigami Academy?

And how was it? Please review!


End file.
